DO REGIONAL TRADE AREAS IMPROVE EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS? - A CASE OF INDONESIA

Abstract

Indonesia has involved in quite many regional trade agreements, since more than a decade ago. Theoritically, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are very beneficial to the countries, as resources are more efficiently allocated due to production specialization. However, presence of asymmetric information, market inefficiency, and economic distortion in the real world have led to a deviation of FTAs benefits from its theoritical framework. This paper studies whether Indonesian export competitiveness is improving after Indonesia involves in ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and ASEAN-Cina Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA). Export competitiveness are measured by some trade indicators, such as: trade intensity index, market share, export product dynamics, and RCA, for some Indonesian main export products. The indices are compared across ASEAN countries and Cina to reveal: (i) which products are gaining or losingcompetitiveness in ASEAN and Cina markets; and (ii) which countries are  becoming Indonesian main competitors in ASEAN and Cina markets. Additionally, this paper ends up with some policy recommendations that Indonesia should undertake to improve competitiveness of its products in ASEAN and Cina markets.